Every city gets the indie rock it deserves, you might say. In Connecticut, the psychedelic soul of Bridgeport's Stepkids and the collegiate polish of New-Haven-centric Mates of States, could be used to make that point. And the noisy abrasive blare and...

We might have turned a corner closer to spring this week. But it's still winter, a perfect time to hone your writing skills while you're hunkering indoors waiting for the weather to warm.
The folks at the Williamsburg Book Festival are getting started...

Three British schoolgirls believed to have gone to Syria to become "jihadi" brides. Three young men charged in New York with plotting to join the Islamic State group and carry out attacks on American soil. A masked, knife-wielding militant from London who...

Eighty-four years ago, on March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States. Hoover's signature on the congressional decree made official what had been unofficial for years, and other...

With 10 performances remaining before Lyric Opera closes out its primary season, the company is finding that even a standard crowd-pleaser such as "Tosca" can no longer be relied upon to sell out the 3,400-seat Civic Opera House — hence the blizzard of ads heralding the return of the Puccini favorite to the winter repertory.
Whether advertising alone will make people want to catch director John Caird's harsh, problematic production remains to be seen. Lyric may be counting on cast changes to...

The absolute power of the spoken word, Nicholas Stevens noted, is something worth rediscovering, particularly for a younger generation that may not have heard about poetry readings in cafes and similar gatherings – places where beat poets had the ability to mesmerize a crowd.
One of the most fascinating writers, Stevens added, was undoubtedly Jack Kerouac – who also happens to have a connection to College Park.
In the late 1950s, Kerouac lived in a house at 1418 Clouser Ave. that is now the...

Words tumbled off the pages, whether describing ice cream flavors, mosquitoes or true love during a celebration of African-American authors and poets.
Lyons Township High School students and teachers gathered to share readings Feb. 26 during a literary event capping the school's observance of Black History Month.
The school was a host site for an African-American Read-In, a nationwide program making literacy a significant part of Black History Month. The program began in 1990 through the National...

Occasionally, for reasons of fate or coincidence, sounds from the past converge in the present at key moments.
Consider the Staple Singers, whose gospel recordings starting in the early 1960s carried them through the next four decades and included secular pop hits including "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again."
Lauded by musical aesthetes but less known among the public, the family quartet and its founder-patriarch, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, have recently seen new light shined on them that...

For more than a year, Miami artist Diana Contreras tried to capture the essence and spirit of a woman known for her flamboyant fashion, political poetry and arts activism in Pembroke Pines.
The end results are emblazoned on a bench near the lake at William B. Armstrong Dream Park, a green space advocated for by Terry T. Sherman, the late activist who used poems to persuade city commissioners.
"I love faces, so I had to do something there," Contreras said. "I wanted to make it a magical muse."
The...

Midway through its 2014-15 season at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Ballet Theatre of Maryland is continuing its Vote Your Choice season with performances picked by audience members.
Now in her 12th year as the troupe's artistic director, Dianna Cuatto describes designing a schedule that reflects audience wishes as a delight. She's especially pleased to start 2015 with a newly choreographed version of "Cinderella," a play she calls "the most universal of all fairy tales."
This production...